Acknowledged
by Little Miss Lovejoy
Summary: Miss Pennycandy was sure Krusty wouldn't remember her birthday.


She hadn't expected him to remember. It was just a day, age was just a number, and she was a mere assistant. Well, executive assistant, but still of lesser importance than say, a TV star. Why would Krusty remember his assistant's birthday? Sometimes, Lois thought, Krusty wouldn't remember his head if it weren't attached. And she meant that with all the care in the world. It's just that, if it weren't for her, he wouldn't remember most things. She treated her boss with the utmost care and respect, and that is exactly why she was executive assistant. Well, that and she was the sharpest, most organized, punctual, and _available_ of the lot, but that was neither here nor there. The fact of the matter was, she was a mere assistant, and the birthday of an assistant was only trivial to a celebrity, she was sure.

But part of her still hoped that he would remember.

The day had been long and hectic, as they often were. To say recording had gone less than smoothly would be an understatement. The cannon had misfired in the skit, causing Sideshow Mel to fly into the audience, right into a row of children, creating a bit of a domino effect. No one was seriously injured, but the phones had been ringing off the hook ever since—angry parents threatening lawsuits. Of course, Lois was having to deal with many of these calls.

She was even sure that a group of protesting mothers were already outside the studio with picket signs in response to the incident. Krusty noticed this and groaned. "Seriously?! The cannon gag literally happened 15 minutes ago, and we're already getting phone calls and damn protesters outside?! Oy!" He slapped his hand to his forehead irritably.

"I will go try to call them off, sir." Lois started to get up, cringing slightly as the phone rang yet _again_.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go run them off." Krusty noticed Lois reaching for the phone. "And transfer those calls to the complaints department. You shouldn't have to be dealing with all this narishkeit! It's your birthday!" He said this so nonchalantly that Lois nearly fell out of her chair. She had to take a moment to regain her composure as he ran over to the window, lifting it up and yelling, "HEY HEY! You protesters! Get the #$% outta here, or I'll shoot Sideshow Mel at _you_ shmucks!"

Lois was so much in a daze that she couldn't even think to warn Krusty of talking to the protesters in such a threatening way, considering those were parents who could very well file a lawsuit against Krusty with the current situation at hand.

"Krusty? What did you say to me a moment ago?" she asked once she'd finally came back to reality.

"That you need to transfer those calls?"

"Why?" she asked innocently, wanting to test whether or not it had been a dream she had heard him mention her birthday.

"Because it's your birthday, of course! Man, how hard _am_ I working you? You deserve a break, Miss Pennycandy. You look frazzled!"

"Don't worry about me, sir. I'll be fine. But. . . You remembered my birthday?" It was more of a question than a statement; she was just in shock that he had remembered, as well as tickled to death.

"Of course! Hey hey, I even got you a gift!" He pulled a poorly wrapped present out from under his desk handed it to her. "I picked it out _and_ wrapped it myself! Hope you like it. Heh...Happy birthday, Miss Pennycandy."

Was that a blush through that clown makeup? Why had he suddenly gotten a bit shy? It was really cute, Lois thought to herself. She had to chuckle at the wrapping job; it really was terrible, yet adorable in its own way. "Why, thank you, Krusty. This is. . . very unexpected and so sweet."

"Well, whaddaya waiting for? Open it up!" Krusty grinned, eagerly waiting for her to open the gift.

Lois carefully unwrapped the paper before opened up the box inside. Her eyes widened slightly. A new winter coat was inside! As she examined it, she found it was quite an expensive coat—and fashionable, too! She knew money was no object for this man, but it was still very generous of him to give her such a gift. "Krusty, I . . ."

"Do you not like it? We can exchange it if you want. . ." Krusty shuffled his feet, looking at the ground.

"Huh?" Lois looked up, seeing how shy he was being again. "No!" She jumped up and ran over to him. "I _love_ it." She quickly pecked his cheek without thinking, her face turning a bright pink after she did so. She cleared her throat. "Thank you, Krusty. This means so much to me. You have no idea." The woman smiled, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Man, Miss Pennycandy, don't get all emotional on me," Krusty laughed a bit nervously.

Lois chuckled, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry. This was just so generous of you, and I don't know how to repay you."

"You repay me every day just by doing your job. You're a damn good assistant, Miss Pennycandy, and I don't know what I'd do without you. Happy birthday."

Oh, it was so good to hear those words! She never thought she'd hear them come out of his mouth, and directed at her! She had really expected him to not remember her birthday, and that would have been fine. She had been prepared for that, but this. . . this was so much better.


End file.
